Paper-based transactions down considerably

Paper-based transactions have come down in India considerably, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India. These transactions have fallen from Rs 100 lakh crore in 2012-13 to Rs 80.9 lakh crore at the end of 2016-17, says details available with the central bank. It says the volume of cheque transactions fell by over 11 crore between 2016 and 2017, and paper clearing transactions, which accounted for 82% value of total retail payments in 2011-12, shrunk to 37% in 2016-17. The paper-based transaction includes cheque truncation system, MICR clearing and non-MICR clearing. Digital transactions have found favor with the people even before demonetization, according to the data, as digital transactions had been gradually replacing cheque-based transactions. According to another source of information, more Indians used plastic currency or wire transfers during August 2017, with a steady rise in digital transactions over the past three months. Most popular among these is UPI, which accounted for 16.6 million transactions in August against 11.4 million in July. There has also been noticeable increase in the number of card swipes at POS terminals.